It’s so rewarding to see people achieve things and have pride

FitzRoy’s support staff are at the very heart of everything we do. We had the privilege of chatting to Nic, a Support Worker at our Rural Skills Project, to find out what being a learning disability Support Worker means to him.

Rural Skills is a service that supports people with learning disabilities to develop confidence, skills, and a sense of wellbeing by working in a rural setting. Nic’s speciality is teaching the people we support woodworking skills, which includes making things like bird boxes, wooden planters, and much more.

I chose this career after growing up with my sister, who has a learning disability. I felt like my experience with her would be valuable in this job. Lots of people underestimated her when we were growing up, and assumed she couldn’t do things people without learning disabilities could. Of course they were all wrong!

I wanted to be able to teach people with learning disabilities life skills. For instance one of our guys, Mark, couldn’t use a tape measure when he came here. Now he can do it on his own.

There are lots of different personalities here, and each person needs a different level of support. For instance if someone is just starting out, we will hold our hand over a saw while they are learning how to cut wood. Eventually they gain the skills and the confidence for us to take our hand away and do it themselves.

I really enjoy coming to work as I have great friendships and banter with everyone we support. It’s so rewarding to see people achieve things and have pride in what they do whilst having fun. Seeing someone enjoying a session and growing in confidence is brilliant, and why I enjoy being a Support Worker.”

Would you like to join us in our mission to transform lives and wake up every day feeling good about your work? Click here to see our latest vacancies. We’ll help you understand our values, and we’ll train and support you to be confident transforming lives for people with disabilities.